Stunning, never-before-seen
photographs of creatures
that live in complete darkness.

Illuminating Biodiversity in the Shadowy Haunts
of Planet Earth

Danté Fenolio
Deep inside caves, at the bottoms of oceans and lakes, beneath the ground:
these concealed habitats are absent of sunlight. This strange and fascinating
world of complete darkness is not a solitary place — it is inhabited by
millions of life forms. Yet most humans — creatures of daylight — have never
seen any of them. Until now.
In this fascinating — sometimes eerie — book, extreme wildlife photographer
and scientist Danté Fenolio brings the denizens of these shadowy haunts
into focus. Life in the Dark shows us the many ways in which life forms have
adapted to lightless environments, including refinements of senses, evolution
of unique body parts, and illumination using “biological flashlights.”
With more than 200 mesmerizing color photographs, Life in the Dark unveils
bizarre creatures like the firefly squid, the giant Amazonian catfish, the
Chinese cavefish, and even the human bot fly, which lives in the darkness
beneath its host’s skin. Fenolio’s rich and vibrant images shed new light on
the world’s fascinating creatures of darkness.
Danté Fenolio, a zoologist, biologist, and wildlife photographer, is the
director of conservation and research at the San Antonio Zoo.

“With brilliant photography and illuminating
words, this book truly opens the dark worlds of life
for all to reflect upon and enjoy.”— George Raab,
president emeritus, Chicago Zoological Society,
and former director, Brookfield Zoo

“It is through masterful works such as Life in the Dark that I
can step back and take in the sheer beauty of the forms
of life so ubiquitous, yet so unknown, on our planet. Danté
Fenolio’s eye for pictorial composition is not just among
the best there is, it is among the best that ever was. Life in
the Dark is destined to be a classic.”—Tracey T. Sutton, Nova
Southeastern University
“Delightful, amazing, and inspiring. Danté Fenolio’s stunning
photography and crisp, authoritative text bring to life the
intriguing and bizarre creatures that live in the darkest of
places. This book is an extraordinary gift.”—Marty Crump,
author of In Search of the Golden Frog
“A fascinating and visually stunning glimpse into a
kaleidoscopic array of weird and wonderful creatures
that inhabit a world beyond the reach of
light.”—Robin Moore, author of
In Search of Lost Frogs: The Quest
to Find the World’s Rarest
Amphibians

205

LIFE IN THE DARK
Illuminating Biodiversity in the Shadowy Haunts of Planet Earth

Danté Fenolio
“That infernal Danté has done it again. He has created a series of photographs so beautiful
that it is impossible for us to imagine these creatures otherwise.”
—Michael J. Lannoo, editor of Amphibian Declines:
The Conservation Status of United States Species
“In these pages, Danté Fenolio gives a rare glimpse inside a hidden world of strange
adaptation and the sometimes bizarre answers evolution comes up with to meet the demands
of life in the dark.”
—David Bickford, National University of Singapore
Publication date: April 2016
978-1-4214-1863-6